Dr. Khaled M Batarfi When we think of car dealerships, we usually see what a person looking up at the skyscrapers around him would: A jungle of huge iron and concrete towers, with no hearts and souls. That is not fair to the decent and honest people who do have hearts and souls, and are part of the good side of corporate society. In my last article (Young Minister Fights "Fat Cats”), I fell victim to generalization and stereotyping, as Mr. Ali Alireza, Managing Director of Haji Husein Alireza & Co Ltd, correctly pointed out. He is right that some Saudi families worked for ages in the car import business, and provided good and honest service to society. They deserve to be appreciated and respected, not insulted. Now that I have confessed my sins, I would expect my dear friend, Ali, whom I always admire for his courage and frankness, to be as transparent about the car agencies' shortcomings. Since he is the field expert and I am the journalist, I will ask him direct questions and expect direct informative answers: 1. Would you say that the quality of imported cars are "exactly the same" as it is in Japan, Europe and US? 2. How many times have any Saudi agency recalled a car model for a factory fault, even if the same model has been recalled in other countries? 3. Do you regard three weeks to change (not fix) two doors a normal time? (Please note that the disputed two weeks for paper work are not included) 4. Do you provide “road aid” and “replacement cars” for customers during repair time? 5. Would you say your service quality is equal to those in the US, Japan and Europe? 6. Do we have effective customer protection agencies in Saudi Arabia? If so, how many cases were won last year against Saudi agencies? 7. Do we have non-commercial car magazines that advise consumers and audit agencies profits and services? 8. Would car agencies accept such auditing from the press? 9. Would a car company continue to advertise in media critical of its performance? 10. What is the percentage of Saudi engineers and technicians in your workshops? How many Saudis have been trained in the last three years in technical jobs? 11. You have recently acquired new agencies, have you provided separate body workshops for each, or just added the load on the existing one/s? 12. The Commerce Ministry published polls that showed 61 percent of local customers are unhappy with dealership services and prices, and the Minister showed the polls to US car companies in 2012, and asked them to open their own representative offices in Saudi, and encouraged them to allow more competition, what is your reaction to that? Finally, I extend my respect and gratitude to Mr. Alireza and his company. My experience with them was satisfactory. Their Japanese cars are top quality, and the services are very good (except for the delay at the overwhelmed body workshop). I would also like to see more advance services like road aid and car replacements. If I offended anyone in my last article by generalizing, I sincerely apologize. My goal was to highlight the shortcomings of Saudi car agencies. My hope is to remedy these shortcomings. My prescription is for the manufacturers to serve Saudi customers directly and via multiple agencies. Current agents may stay. If they are as they advertise, they could keep their “large loyal customers base" and competition will be a great incentive for more creativity and invention. And if they were not, then they deserve to be called unpatriotic, greedy, dump "Fat Cats" and no one will cry for their departure. Now, here is some of your comments, dear readers:
Saudi auto dealers never recall faulty cars “I used a car model that had some issues. They are repaired free in the US and European countries, but in Saudi I never heard anything like that. "When I was in the US, I had my car for four years with no problems. Is it possible companies are exporting lesser quality cars to us?” — Mohammed Umair
Virtual monopoly be ended “Yes, in theory, the Agency Law and Regulations do not prevent multiple dealers to market, sell and service vehicles in the Kingdom, yet, in practice, the local companies, on the back of their long experience in the industry, financial strength and influence insist for exclusivity with the principals which results in making them virtual monopolists. The more popular a brand, the more power the automobile monopolist commands and dictate not only the price of the vehicles, the spare parts, repairs and maintenance charges but also arbitrarily fix conditions to sell, provide after-sale service during the warranty period and repairs to vehicles damaged in accidents. I believe, it is the time that the government specifically disallow exclusive agency arrangements, giving free hand to the principals to appoint multiple dealers and keep them under pressure. That is the essence of true competition and free economy.” — Safi H. Jannaty
